In "second brain" mode, this is really needed to link references together.
I do a lot of academic writing and would love for endnotes/footnotes to be styled & function more or less in the same way as Obsidian/Bear/Typora. I could then bring an even bigger chunk of my notes/writing into NotePlan.
I'm currently running into needing footnotes, and Obsidian supports them nicely, in both formats ([^manual footnote], or ^[inline footnote] it even nicely combines them if you have a note like test line one[^1] test line two^[the second footnote text is here] test line three[^8] bottom of note: [^1]: the first footnote text is here [^8]: the third footnote text is here footnotes displayed at bottom of note like this when in viewing mode, with ↩ being a link to the original text, and auto-displays the footnote numbers in order, even if the numbers don't match up : 1. the first footnote text is here↩ 2. the second footnote text is here↩ 3. the third footnote text is here↩
This would be the most helpful thing for those who are students and academics. Right now I sort of do manual footnotes which isn't the best. So if anyone could help me inserting it into markdown that would be lovely because even though there was the markdown code given by Mike Erickson and Jonathan Clark I still have no clue how best to insert it into my theme :)
Chariklia Martalas: the only things we can currently do with footnotes at the moment in the NotePlan editor with themes is changing colours/fonts or possibly hiding things. We can't move things around. The code that I put was more to help Eduard if he is looking at adding footnote rendering support in the published versions of notes (which is in HTML and so much more is possible). If you'd like to discuss this further, I suggest you join the DIscord server for the NotePlan community (if you haven't already) and then go to the #themes channel.
Eduard Metzger What are you thoughts on providing footnote support. Here is a quick sample ``` Here's a simple footnote,[^1] and here's a longer one.[^note] followed by a second footnote [^2] [^1]: This is the first footnote. [^2]: This is the first footnote.' [^note]: Here's one with multiple paragraphs and code. Indent paragraphs to include them in the footnote. `{ my code }` Add as many paragraphs as you like. ```
Mike Erickson: Currently it's not high on the list, but I think it's part of markdown, same or similar as you mention in the code block. I'm also not sure how it should be displaying in NotePlan, since Markdown is working as live-preview, whereas the footnotes usually get generated in a preview or so in other apps? But I'm happy to see some implementation suggestions (like how it's done in other apps).
Eduard Metzger: works for me, just figured I wouldn’t get it on the list. Surely not a show stopper for me 😊
Eduard Metzger: I've wondered about this in the past. You're right to point out the practical issue with this. Because I don't use NP for long form writing, I'm not going to create many footnotes in NP. If I do I'm happy to see them inline without special handling. I do import some articles from other people, though, and some contain footnotes in the style Mike gives. It might be good to at least give some gentle styling to the footnote markers, and allow bi-directional hyperlinking between them inside the note.
Mike Erickson: There's also the inline footnote style, which I normally favour: `Here's a simple footnote^[This is the first footnote.], followed by a second footnote^[This is the second footnote.].` This works better when re-arranging work in long documents, though it doesn't handle multi-line footnote text.
Jonathan Clark: is this already supported in NotePlan?
Mike Erickson: If you just want the styling, a custom theme can do this. But the full footnotes would be kind of "internal linking", isn't it? Similar to the heading links, but for paragraphs kind of? This would give me an interesting idea for block referencing. This is almost the same, but you write the footnote "ID"s manually? Just clarifying if I got it right.
Eduard Metzger: Yes, in @Mike Erickson's form it is block referencing, where you get to decide what the ID is. (Though some editors will naturally handle this for you.) In my form of it, you're right that there's nothing much to do, as long as it gets understood in any export. BTW, it currently seems that both forms don't get rendered correctly in the published HTML note.
Jonathan Clark: I see! The web app doesn't support footnotes and it loads only the default theme (not the one you are using at the moment), though I did add some extras like strikethrough and more, so we could as well add footnote rendering if we have some regexp I can use. It's also much easier to implement something like this in the web app :D
Eduard Metzger: sounds good. If I were you I'd start by looking at HTML/CSS **tooltips**, popping up the footnote text when hovering over the link. See https://www.w3schools.com/css/css_tooltip.asp for details. `\[\^.*?\]` should find footnote markers in text. `^\[\^.*?\]\:\` should find start of footnote definitions later in doc. `\^[\^.*?\]` should find inline footnote definitions.
Jonathan Clark: Thanks for sharing!
Markdown footnotes ([^1] syntax) would be a very useful addition, particularly for anyone using it as a knowledge base (as well). A few practical applications: - Source attribution in research and literature notes - linking claims directly to references without cluttering the body text - Policy and procedure tracking - annotating which memo, meeting, or version introduced a particular change, with the source easily traceable Meeting notes and decisions - flagging the rationale or evidence behind a decision without breaking flow Obsidian approach: footnotes render in live preview, and hovering over the superscript number shows the footnote content as a small tooltip overlay (Mac), so you get full context without scrolling.